Galloway, N.J.  – The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation's Board of Trustees recently approved a $30,000 general operating support grant to the Noyes Museum of Art of Stockton University.

The Noyes Museum of Art was created to provide southern New Jersey with “opportunities to learn about, explore, and experience the arts.” With different sites in Atlantic City, Galloway and Hammonton, Michael Cagno, the executive director of the Noyes Museum, is excited to continue this vision through the Dodge Foundation grant.  

“The museum has embraced the role of being an agent for change,” Cagno said. “Through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts with a variety of organizations, the museum will continue to provide an environment that promotes, fosters and enriches lives, regardless of ethnic, social and economic backgrounds.”

According to Cagno, the grant will help fund the following initiatives and programs:

• keep programs and exhibitions low-to-no cost for the local community;
• expand a community garden with Ducktown Community Development Corporation (CDC);
• facilitate a program that teaches students about basic horticulture and teamwork with the Jewish Employment and Vocational Service (JEVS) and New Jersey Youth Corp;
• expand programs to individuals with disabilities such as autism and intellectual disabilities;
• and serve on the board of the Hammonton Health Coalition to provide cultural engagement opportunities to Hammonton’s growing Latino population. 

The Noyes Arts Garage, located on Fairmount Avenue in Atlantic City, houses two museums, the Noyes Museum of Art Galleries and the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey, eight artist studios, shops, a café, and an art classroom. In addition to being the “cornerstone of the Arts District” in Atlantic City, the Arts Garage hosts summer programs for elementary and middle-school students at Sovereign Avenue School and Stockton University in Galloway. The Arts Garage is open Wednesdays-Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Noyes Galleries at Kramer Hall, located on Front Street in Hammonton, are meant to “add vibrancy to the Arts District in downtown Hammonton.” Current programs include Life Drawing with Art Club, where participants learn how to draw live models regardless of skill level, and special programs every third Thursday of the month. The Noyes Galleries are open Mondays-Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays are open until 7 p.m. during “Third Thursdays.”

The Dodge Foundation “supports, centers, and connects communities and changemakers who are addressing the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity in New Jersey.” They do this work through initiatives such as grantmaking, capacity building and mission investing. 

-Story by Loukaia Taylor

-Photos provided by Michael Cagno